A freshstart

“ Living on top of a hill has definitely been a new experience for us,” laughs Nadia Taylor, who, with her husband Lee and their three daughters – Zara, 15, Anya, 12, and Sophia, 10 – moved from her native Singapore to The Hewletts, their Georgian home just outside Cheltenham, last year. “Driving down towards the town in winter, we were stunned as the temperature on the dashboard went up by two degrees each time.”

There is no question, though, that the midwinter mercury drop is worth it for the views from the family’s 18th-century Palladian-style home, perched atop Aggs Hill, and overlooking nearly 50 acres of garden, parkland, pasture and woodland. The panoramic vistas are far-reaching, from Cheltenham racecourse to the Malvern Hills, with the Black Mountains in Wales visible in the distance.

Capturing a sense of this picturesque location was integral to interior design studio Sims Hilditch, appointed by the Taylors when they bought the property in September 2021. A soft palette of neutrals with pale greens, blues, pinks and ticking stripes is employed throughout the house to instill it with a feeling of warmth and cosiness despite its considerable footprint.

Sitting in the spacious kitchen – where the family spend most of their time – Nadia is confident their move was the right one. “After 17 years spent living in Singapore, where our daughters were born, we didn’t take the decision to relocate to the UK lightly,” she explains. “But we wanted the children to experience both sides of their heritage by living in England as well as Asia.”

Nadia and Lee met at Bristol University, where they were both studying law, before their careers took them to Singapore. However, when Lee retired from his role as a partner in an international law firm, the timing felt perfect for the family to move and for him to take the lead when it came to looking for their new home. Lee and eldest daughter Zara are both keen polo players, which narrowed the property search to the